August 19, 2002
BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for Sept. 1
The cross is the beginning of reconciliation, trust
______By Bob Nickell
1 Corinthians 1:1-17
___1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
___2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours:
___3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
___4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-- 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
___10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."
___13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
___After the age of 50, I had to accept the fact that my eyesight was not what it used to be. The deacons in the church I pastor helped me with my processing to glasses by giving me a pair of $10 reading glasses at our annual deacons and wives Christmas banquet. By the end of the next year, I was wearing prescription glasses, and they make a world of difference.
___I no longer have to strain to see, and my ability to focus on words while reading has greatly improved. Whereas I used to have to hold a book or paper at arm's length to find my focal point, the reading glasses helped to improve that.
___A focal point is at the point where the geometrical lines or their prolongations conforming to the rays diverging from or converging toward another point intersect and give rise to an image after reflection by a mirror or refraction by a lens or optical system--so says Webster's Dictionary. While we may not understand what all that means, we can all identify with the havoc and frustration that can come out of a lack of focus.
___Over the years, my focal point had changed. I could not focus on words close to me because I was far-sighted. But my new glasses changed all that for the better. The church at Corinth likewise needed a new prescription for its spiritual vision.
___As the Apostle Paul responds to disturbing news he received from Chloe's family (v. 11), he begins by addressing an issue that has caused him deep concern on behalf of the Corinthian Christians.
___Paul understood there were divisions among the people in the church at Corinth, that they were choosing up sides and they had an inability to get along with their fellow believers. Therefore, he called their attention to two challenges. The first challenge was to regain the focus they had lost.
___Lost focus___
___An approach used at times in a court of law is used in other relationships as well. Many times an attorney may attempt to discredit a witness in order to strengthen his client's case. By weakening another person's position, one can gain power, if he is successful in his attempt to discredit the other person.
___Paul knew all about that approach. On numerous occasions, there were leaders in the churches who called into question Paul's authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ. In nearly every letter attributed to Paul, he identifies himself as "an apostle called by God, not by man." This is especially true of the Galatians letter.
___He utilizes that concept in his letter to the Corinthians, and then he takes it a step further. The Christians at Corinth had polarized themselves by claiming to be disciples of Apollos, Cephas (Peter), Paul or Jesus. The believers had evidently lost their focus. Where once they could see with 20/20 vision, their eyes had become blurred. Paul wanted no part of their choosing sides.
___He claimed no basis for anyone to follow him based on baptism, as he quickly enumerated only two people in Corinth that he had baptized; then he remembered the house of Stephanas, whom he also baptized. He was taking the focus at least off of himself as a point of contention.
___Paul was not going to allow the Corinthians to place more emphasis on baptism than was warranted. As important an act as it is, baptism is an act of obedience symbolizing salvation rather than having saving power in itself.
___Paul also acknowledged that not only the act, but the one doing the baptizing had gotten out of focus. The person performing the rite of baptism was unimportant.
___The act of baptism neither provides salvation nor indicates the baptismal candidate somehow has become the follower of the person who baptized him or her. Baptism symbolizes the salvation experience and indicates a relationship of followship to Christ, not to the person doing the baptism.
___Paul addresses the act of baptism as symbolic, not putting any saving value on the act itself; nor does he place any special significance to the agent in baptism. Evidently, some leaders in the church were placing too much emphasis on the act and the agent. Paul was doing his utmost to return the point of focus back to Christ and the church's responsibility to act as believers should.
___The apostle does not diminish the act of baptism, however, but he does make sure the Corinthians do not overreact to the place of baptism in salvation. To remove his name from among those he baptized is an attempt to diffuse the argument of the importance of the agent in the act.
___Paul goes a step further in denying any unique relationship between the one baptized and the one who is baptizing. The only relationship that is uniquely established is between the one being baptized and Christ.
___With the issue of baptism clearly discussed, Paul appealed for unity among the brothers of faith (v. 10). He wanted them to remember that Christ was the point at which their eyes were to come into focus, not Apollos, nor Peter and surely not himself.
___Paul wanted the issue of Christ to be their central focal point, not personalities or personal preferences for leadership styles.
___The same is true in the church today. When issues arise, we must focus on the issue at hand, not personalities. Any deviation from the issue makes certain that limited headway will be made in coming to a solution that is acceptable to the body at large.
___In pre-marital counseling, it is necessary for a couple to explore the possibilities of communication without name-calling or chasing rabbits. It never does any good for a husband or wife to bring up the other's parent in the middle of an argument or disagreement, especially when they are not the issues at hand.
___To bring up a family member only causes the couple to lose focus on the needed conversation of a particular issue. The issue that is the root cause of the conflict will never be addressed and reconciliation never reached if focus is not kept on the issue at hand.
___Such was the case for Paul and the church at Corinth. His attempt was to get them focused again. And to do so would take trust in one another as fellow believers.
___A pastor friend told the story of the time he and his wife were traveling home to their farm in the country when a thunderstorm blew up and dumped multiple inches of rain in a short period of time. They had an old 1930 model Ford with running boards.
___Having passed through some high water, the car stalled out at the entrance to the bridge, which crossed a small river leading to their home. Joe told his wife to get out and walk to the house and he would be home a little later.
___The water had risen to the running boards on the car and the river was starting to rise. After he had not come home in a few hours, Joe's wife called a neighboring farmer to see if he had seen Joe.
___Nightfall had occurred and the river was running above the bridge. In the distance, Joe heard a familiar voice saying, "Come to the light, Joe. Come to the light." As Joe made his way in the darkness and rain, he could not see the bridge at all, only the light. So, he set his eyes on his friend's flashlight as his friend beckoned Joe to "come to the light."
___Paul admonished the Corinthians to focus on the Light, too. The Light of God, Jesus Christ. But to do so would take the Corinithians trusting in one another.
___Trust in one another___
___In order for there to be unity in the church at Corinth, there had to be reconciliation among its people.
___Paul believed reconciliation came only in the cross of Christ. Our Lord is the source (v. 17), the rallying point and the focal point of unity. There was no individual, nor any will power, nor unusual gift that could create unity in their lives. The gospel of Christ is that around which believers can rally and unite.
___It is God's gift to the church. It is the glue that holds the church together. Trust is vital to the life of a church. Trust had eroded in the church at Corinth. Paul was attempting to restore trust once again among the membership, so he focused their attention on Christ.
___A lawyer went on a safari to Africa to hunt the wild elephant. Taking the local natives as guides, he set up camp and went to find his game. After shooting the elephant, the natives tied ropes to the legs of the great animal and together they pulled him back to camp. As they pulled, the natives and lawyer chanted: "Our trophy. Our trophy."
___After awhile, the lawyer began to cry out above the natives: "My trophy. My trophy." Soon the elephant was hard to pull until it finally came to a stop. The lawyer, with rope in hand, looked around and began to chant: "Our trophy. Our trophy." The natives took the ropes, pulled together and joined in the chant: "Our trophy. Our trophy," as they again made their way to camp.
___It seemed evident to Paul that the church at Corinth had ceased to pull together and was beginning to pull apart. He did not question their theological stance, but he addressed the spirit in the church which would allow for such strife to come about.
___This pulling together comes from preaching the word, which leads to salvation. For Christian brothers and sisters are united with the same Father, in the same family, and they are to pull together, not pull apart.
___When we keep our focus on Christ, and not ourselves, then unity will be easier to come by and maintain. We cannot get along in the church because we allow personalities to get in the way of issues and blind our focus. Most of the time, however, it is not following someone else that becomes a stumbling block to unity, but rather wanting our own way in things--feeling we know best if only everyone else would just listen. We must remain focused on Christ if the church is to fulfill the mission God has for it.
___Bob Nickell is pastor of South Hills Baptist Church in Fort Worth
Questions for thought and discussion
___What are some issues in your life, or in the life of your church, that have caused you to lose your focus on Christ? Once that has been revealed, what are some ways to refocus on the Lord?
___
___
___
___
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook